UNC and community organizations are joining together for a showcase of performances at the Sonja Haynes Stone Center's annual Martin Luther King Celebration titled “He Was a Poem, He Was a Song” on Tuesday, Jan. 21.
Stephanie Cobert, public communications officer at the Stone Center, said this year’s celebration will feature performances from UNC African American a cappella group, Harmonyx, married Christian guitar and voice band, The Polk Duo, and even a ninth grade Communiversity scholar, Mackenzie Garrett.
“Being the African American and African Diaspora Cultural Center on campus, we look at things through a cultural and historical perspective,” Cobert said. “So, using the arts as a way to celebrate his life and his work is the main purpose of the show.”
Sam Ndukwe, a junior and Communiversity volunteer, said the MLK Day celebration exemplifies what Communiversity strives to achieve.
Communiversity is a youth program sponsored by the Stone Center where UNC students, called leaders, volunteer to help children from the community, called scholars, with homework or guide them through extracurricular programs ranging from culinary arts to poetry writing.
“I think that Communiversity allows scholars as well as ourselves to have an older brother or a sister, a mentor, a friend and guidance,” Ndukwe said. “Communiversity allows scholars as well as ourselves to learn from each other.”
Ndukwe said this performance specifically provides an opportunity for scholars to step out of their shells and express themselves.
“It's a time for us to honor a man who was the definition of service to all,” Ndukwe said. “It allows Communiversity leaders, as well as the scholars, to show how we have honored the past and prepared for the future by being very creative in the way that we commemorate his achievements.”
Agnes Ezekwesili is another Communiversity volunteer and a senior. She said providing the Communiversity scholars with a platform to share their work is an important aspect to the MLK Celebration.
